Inspired by the San Jose Bike Party (SJBP), now two years old and averaging 2,000 cyclists per ride, we decided that the East Bay needed a similar, people-positive event. So, on May 21st 2010, the East Bay Bike Party will officially set foot (and wheels) in the East Bay, and everyone’s invited to the roaming celebration!

The monthly ride will be every third Friday, and the inaugural ride is no different. We’ll start off from Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland at 9pm on Friday, May 21st and have ourselves an all-ages, positive, community-building bike ride. We’ll travel from Oakland to Berkeley and back at a “no child left behind” pace with relaxing/party/mingling checkpoints.

What do you need to bring? We recommend: your bike, a positive partytude, blinkies, snacks & water. If you have a mobile sound system, great! Since this ride is about community positivity (and safe cycling), we’ll be obeying traffic laws, including stopping at traffic lights. If this splits the pack, don’t worry, we’ll be making sure we regroup along the way. Check out the “official” Facebook invite we’ve created here.

Happy Birthday, East Bay Bike Party! Come celebrate with us!!

For those of you who like to costume up (yourself, your bike, or both) the theme to this month’s “birthday” ride is, “It’s a bike party!” So dress to impress keeping the birthday/birth announcement theme in mind, or be creative without the theme in mind. We just want you to have fun, so attire yourself and your bike in whatever way seems Bike Party celebration-appropriate.

And don’t forget, it’s not our party, it’s everyone’s party. The more involved you want to get before, during or after, the better. We’ll be needing volunteers for test rides, promotion, flyers and cornering, so please let us know if you want to help out!